NBA Basketball Betting - Lakers at Mavericks

NBA basketball betting excitement was high in Dallas until superstar forward Dirk Nowitzki went down to injury as that caused a dramatic slump for the Mavericks.

NBA basketball betting handicappers have seen the Los Angeles Lakers struggle as well as of late as there are doubts about their ability to repeat as champions in the NBA sports betting post season.

The Dallas Mavericks will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night with a telecast on ESPN set to start at 9 PM ET. Be sure and open your account at Sports Gambling for side and total action on this matchup.

Dallas had a record of 26-13 straight up and was 20-17-2 with the NBA odds. The Mavericks were 8-12-2 against the spread at home with an even 11-11 split on totals as a host. Dallas has been in a cataclysmic slump as of late as they got the money in just 2 out of 10 games from December 28 through January 15.

The biggest reason for the steep decline has been Dirk Nowitzki being on the injured list until his return to the lineup in a January 15 loss at Memphis.

Nowitzki led Dallas with 23.6 points per game and was about the only offense Dallas could muster as they ranked 21st in the NBA for scoring while the defense was uncharacteristically good by their standards and ranked 7th for points allowed. Jason Kidd was still a solid point guard and leader on offense with 8.4 assists per game.

The Lakers showed their best value on the road with a mark of 10-9-1 with the NBA betting lines as they went under the total in 11 of 20 road games. Kobe Bryant was having another outstanding season with 25.3 points per game and Pau Gasol had 10.8 rebounds per game to lead LA in that category.

This is the first meeting of the season between these two teams. The Lakers have covered just 4 of their last 13 NBA basketball betting matchups with Dallas. The Lakers have had the better of it in Dallas as they have paid out in 3 of their last 4 visits to Big D with 5 of the last 7 matchups in Dallas going over the total. Dallas has paid out in just 7 of their last 19 overall home games against the Lakers.